[talk-au] Suburb boundaries

[BlueMM]

Darrin Smith <beldin at ...> writes:
> On Thu, 5 Feb 2009 18:30:58 +1100
> Franc Carter <franc.carter at ...> wrote:
> > I have added an entry to the data catalogue at
> > 
> >    http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Import/Catalogue#One-Time_Imports
> > 
> > and the beginnings of page about the import at
> > 
> 
> Post codes and Electorals Boundaries map up nicely to a boundary
> relation (especially given post codes align with suburb boundaries as
> far as I know), however they will really test the limits of the area
> model since they will be so much larger, and have many more points.
> 
> I was ponder about electoral boundaries a while back, and realised they
> probably fall just about the 'council' level and should therefor have a
> admin_level of 5. But lets worry about the suburbs first ;)

Apparently there was a big push for unification of suburb & postcode boundaries
a few years back by the governmental spatial agencies. I believe it hasn't been
completed, parts of NT didn't correspond.

Given the electoral boundaries, it shows the limits of the admin_level tagging
system, as Australia is like the UK, where it's more of a hierarchy (think
different areas like councils/suburbs/postcodes/parishes/electoral/state). I
think there are even examples in Australia of suburbs crossing state lines.

BTW, I love the fact we can finally use this data, but is it all ok copyright
wise? I remember reading that is costs an arm & a leg to get postcode boundaries
from Australia post, and here we are getting it for free from the ABS & can be
used for commercial purposes. Wonder if it is because of some law that states
all ABS data is free, even if it comes from behind non-open doors (like
Geoscience Australia). Hope my gut feeling is just what I had for lunch :P

BlueMM